We are so excited to be celebrating the fact that AJ joined our family 2 years ago this week. Some families call the day “Gotcha Day.” Others choose names such as “Family Day” or “Adoption Day.” To us, the name really isn’t important, and the day he came to us was many many months before the day his adoption was final. So, he will get to celebrate at two separate times each year plus he will have a birthday celebration on top of that!

Some find the “Gotcha” celebration controversial, but for our family, this week is so important. His life is worth celebrating! Every life is! Life is a gift from God. And, if it wasn’t for the foster to adopt journey, he might not have even made it to see this day. God has worked many miracles in his life.

We always want him to know that he is loved so so much. Does he have to have a trip filled with awesome adventures to show him how much we love him? Of course not! Is it a good way to bond as a family and make special memories? Yes, of course it is!

We understand all too well that adoption comes with loss, and it isn’t hidden that his birth family continues to need our prayers. We feel the trauma almost daily. He will possibly live with life long disabilities due to the circumstances he lived in before coming to us. But, we choose to forgive and hopefully his birth family understands how much we care for them and love them. He will always be a part of them. We pray for their healing! God wants them to be healed, and so do we!

AJ is still young, and he doesn’t understand it all, but we pray he will grow up seeing God’s hand in His life. We pray he always understands that God’s plans and purposes for his life are always the best. We have a great desire for him to see his birth family healed and walking with the Lord. But, we also know it is all in God’s hands, and He already knows when and if they will be willing to walk the path He has chosen for them. We pray that God will bring our boy comfort and peace no matter the outcome.

Despite the hurt and loss, we want to stay focused on the positive sides of adoption providing AJ the support and love he needs along the way. We want to celebrate all the Lord has done in his life. We want to make a big deal of what a miracle he is as long as he feels comfortable doing it. We will follow his lead. So far, he isn’t complaining about the fun, attention, and family time he’s being immersed with.

So, on to our first big day of our week long trip! We started off with a short plane ride to Florida. It was so much fun. I used to get nervous flying. But, we are in God’s hands. We don’t need to worry about our future. And, honestly, I feel like flying is safer than driving 13 hours in the 12 passenger van with 6 kids. AJ and I sang songs, clapped, and took pictures until he fell off to sleep. He curled up with Daddy for the last part of the flight.

Right when we got off the plane, we hopped in the rental and headed to Legoland Beach Retreat.

This part of the trip was a gift from my dad. The kids opened a package at Christmas with Legos, a Lego themed shirt, and a picture of the Legoland Beach Resorts. James loves Legos and wants to design new Lego sets as a career one day. So, he was very excited about his gift.

The kids have really enjoyed Legoland Beach Retreat so far. There have been plenty of things for them to do, and the staff has been great.

The older kids had a fun time in the pool – even if it was pouring the rain. You have to love Florida weather. Swimming in the rain in January! Why not?

Tomorrow we will hit the Legoland Theme Park. But, for now, we are going to call it a night.

(By the way, we got a pretty big discount on tickets with the homeschool rate. If you homeschool, you should seriously check it out!!)

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.